The Book of Mormon-theater reviewJune 30, 2016

photos by Joan Marcus

photo by Joan Marcus

Theater ReviewJune 30, 2016

The Book of Mormon

By Betty Mohr

The Book of Mormon is back for its third run in Chicago. It's still the “emperor-has-no-clothes” moment in theater. That the show is a big box-office success and has garnered acclaim from crowd-think critics attests to the dumbing down of America and the headlong slide of our culture into the slimy gutter. Instead of being, as the New York Times critic dubbed it, “the best musical of the Century,” it really deserves to be called "the smarmiest show of the century".

The musical, which last played Chicago in 2015, is back for a return engagement at the Bank of America Theatre. It is still as vulgar, gross, crass, crude, disgusting, degrading, and as offensive as it was in its first run. Once again the puerile, infantile and smutty show skewers the Mormon religion, spits out awful, unfunny jokes about aids, child rape, and genital mutilation. The work drips with anti-God, anti-religion, and inane references.

The work of Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the duo behind TV’s “South Park), the musical centers on two young Mormon missionaries who journey to a village in Uganda in order to convert its people. It’s not an easy job as the villagers and their warlord are too busy with poverty and disease to pay attention.

photo: Joan Marcus

As the story progresses, it unspools with repulsive, scatological humor, and the most foul language one is likely to hear in a Broadway show. Moreover the unmelodious musical score by Robert Lopez is not memorable.

To get an idea of the level of the show, consider a song titled “Hasa Diga Eebowal,” which translates to “F---You God”; consider a character named General Butt Ass Naked; consider a villager who says “I have maggots in my scrotum”, and consider another native who says he believes that sleeping with virgins prevents AIDS.

Directed by Casey Nicholaw and Parker, the cartoonish show relentlessly mocks the Latter Day Saints Church, insults religious faith, and those who believe in God. Furthermore, it depicts Africans in such a bad light that one wonders why the Black community has not protested the show.

It’s difficult to care about what happens to them or any of the characters because one's attention is sidetracked by the degradation, humiliation, and insults that abound throughout the show.

Why did Parker and Stone choose to make fun of Mormonism? Why did they not instead choose to satirize Islam? Is it possible that they were scared to brush with fanatics who burn people alive, mutilate and enslave women, and who behead anyone who disagrees with them?

Don’t believe the sheepish hype and buzz surrounding The Book of Mormon. On the day I saw the show, many theatergoers who were fed up with the dim-witted musical, left at intermission.

The Book of MormonWhen: Through August 14, 2016Where: Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe, ChicagoTickets: $45-$135Information: Call 800.775.2000 or visit www.broadwayinchicago.com